Attendance and participation

We strongly encourage all students to participate actively in all learning activities. Regular engagement is crucial for your success in this unit, as these activities provide opportunities to deepen your understanding of the material, collaborate with peers, and receive valuable feedback from instructors, to assist in completing the unit assessments. Your active participation not only enhances your own learning experience but also contributes to a vibrant and dynamic learning environment for everyone.

Requirements to Pass this Unit

To pass this unit, you must:

• Achieve a total mark equal to or greater than 50%.

Hurdle Assessments

There is no Hurdle Assessment in this unit.

Late Submission Policy

• 5% penalty per day: If you submit your assessment late, 5% of the total possible marks will be deducted for each day (including weekends), up to 7 days.

  • Example 1 (out of 100): If you score 85/100 but submit 20 hours late, you will lose 5 marks and receive 80/100.

  • Example 2 (out of 30): If you score 27/30 but submit 1 day late, you will lose 1.5 marks and receive 25.5/30.

• After 7 days: Submissions more than 7 days late will receive a mark of 0.

• Extensions:

  • Automatic short extension: Some assessments are eligible for automatic short extension. You can only apply for an automatic short extension before the due date.

  • Special Consideration: If you need more time due to serious issues and for any assessments that are not eligible for Short Extension, you must apply for Special Consideration.

Need help? Review the Special Consideration page HERE.

Assessments where Late Submissions will be accepted:

• Assignments – YES, Standard Late Penalty applies;
• Skill Exercise – YES, Standard Late Penalty applies;
• Final Exam – NO, unless Special Consideration is granted.

Special Consideration

The Special Consideration Policy aims to support students who have been impacted by short-term circumstances or events that are serious, unavoidable, and significantly disruptive, and which may affect their performance in assessment. If you experience circumstances or events that affect your ability to complete the assessments in this unit on time, please inform the convenor and submit a Special Consideration request through https://connect.mq.edu.au.

Written Assessments/Quizzes/Tests: If you experience circumstances or events that affect your ability to complete the written assessments in this unit on time, please inform the convenor and submit a Special Consideration request through https://connect.mq.edu.au.

Classes

Workshops (beginning in Week 1): There is one 1-hour workshop each week. During this hour, we will provide a brief overview of the week's content, run a Q&A session, and engage in some interesting activities together. 

Pre-recorded Lectures (released weekly from Week 1): There are no formal live lectures scheduled for this unit. Each week, we will have some video recordings covering the unit materials.

SGTA classes (beginning in Week 2): Students must register for and attend one 2-hour class per week.

The timetable for classes can be found on the University website at: https://publish.mq.edu.au

Enrolment can be managed using eStudent at: https://students.mq.edu.au/support/technology/systems/estudent

Technology Used and Required

This subject requires the use of the following computer software:

• R: R software (freely available online) will be used in the unit. Students need to practice how to use the software and are expected to use R for the assignment. Students should also note that the final examination may contain inline R codes and output that students need to interpret to answer the questions.

Students are invited to bring their own devices (BYOD), and a laptop is recommended. Acceptable platforms are Windows, Linux, and Mac. 

Suggested textbooks

There is no required textbook for this unit. Students may benefit from having access to the following background reference for additional reading and problems:

• Wackerly, D. D., Mendenhall, W., Scheaffer, R. L. Mathematical Statistics with Applications (4th,5th, 6th or 7th Editions)

The following books may also be useful background references:

• Ross, S. A First Course in Probability, Pearson (5th, 6th, 7th, 8th or 9th Editions)
• Ward, M. D. and Gundlach, E. (2016) Introduction to Probability, W. H. Freeman and Company
• Kinney, J.J. (1997) Probability - An Introduction with Statistical Applications, John Wiley and Sons
• Scheaffer R.L. (1994) Introduction to Probability and Its Applications, (2nd Edition) Duxbury Press
• Sincich,T., Levine, D.M., Stephan, D. (1999) Practical Statistics by Example using Microsoft Excel

At least one copy of each of these is available in the Library, and extra copies may be available on the shelves for borrowing purposes.

Communication

We will communicate with you via your university email or through announcements on iLearn. Queries to convenors can either be placed on the iLearn discussion forum or sent to your lecturers from your university email address.

The previous 2-hour lecture has been replaced with pre-recorded lecture videos and a 1-hour workshop. The videos introduce the core statistical concepts, and you are expected to review them before class. The workshop will focus on worked examples, problem-solving, and questions to help you apply the material and prepare for the assessments.

To enable students more time to focus on learning, understanding, and reflecting on the content of our unit, we have revised the assessment structure as follows. There are now only three assessments: an assignment, a skill exercise, and a final exam. Although no marks are associated with attendance, all activities provide you with key content designed to help you understand the content and complete the assessments.